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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27874717">Numb</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AevonOtterCat/pseuds/AevonOtterCat'>AevonOtterCat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, Lie Ren perspective, Mentions of Character Death, Short, Volume 8 (RWBY), mentions of other jnpr characters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:28:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>409</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27874717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AevonOtterCat/pseuds/AevonOtterCat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>”Ren breathed in deeply, letting the cold air fill him, in and then out. He pushed down the tears. Crying was dangerous”</p>
<p>A drabble on what might be going through Lie Ren’s mind during all of this. Something I had been thinking about for a while but episode 4 ”fault” really made me write it down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lie Ren / Nora Valkyrie (implied)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Numb</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ren breathed in deeply, letting the cold air fill him, in and then out. He pushed down the tears. Crying was dangerous. He was just. just so. Frustrated. Angry. Tired. </p>
<p>All he had wanted for so long was to save people. To be a huntsman. To have a home, perhaps a family. To return to the comfort he had known as a child. Safety and control. He kept thinking "if I just do this one more thing" it would be there. He would wake up. Whole and ok. If he just saved that girl hiding under the porch. If he just got him and Nora to a city. If they were just accepted into the academy. If they could stop the grim at beacon. If they could get to mantle. then atlas. If. If...</p>
<p>But it's never just one more thing. There is always something after that. It's always the harsh wilderness and the people with too many hungry mouths to feed and the grim attacking where protection was supposed to be and Pyrrha... and he never ever gets a chance to recover. Every morning he wakes up with peace only getting farther away. People are still dying. And there is nothing. Nothing he can do. How could he keep going without a plan? Keep living like this is normal? They said he was a huntsman but huntsmen didn't let people die. Huntsmen don't deal with immortal enemies. His teammates want to focus on what's in front of them. On saving who they can. Like it's enough. Oh, and Nora... Nora. </p>
<p>He blinks rapidly and shoves his feelings down deep. He can't think about her now. About the future he wanted for them. Together. Especially how she's the only one who understands the things he can't say and how she isn't listening. Or is listening but isn't hearing what she wants to hear from him. Like it matters how he feels when the world is at stake. Even Jaune wanted him to open up. But he had never been good at words. Besides, now wasn't the time. Someday. Someday he would let them all know how much he cared. How they had become his family. How he was scared to lose them. Right now. Right now he would keep focused. </p>
<p>He closed his eyes and let the chill of the air sink through his aura. Numb him. Feelings were dangerous. He wouldn't be the reason anyone else got hurt.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ren ignoring his emotions is something I think is exasperated by his semblance. I don't think it was coincidence Robyn and Qrow had that talk about how semblances can impact relationships in the same episode as Ren snapped. These are just some thoughts on what may be going through his head.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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